World Of Cricket

Abu Dhabi: England defeated Pakistan by 5 runs to win the T20I series (2-1). Kevin Pietersen once again performed amazingly with the bat and scored 62 runs off 52 balls.

England celebrate with the trophy after winning the T20I series © Getty Images

England for the 3rd time won the toss & decided to bat first. It was a slow track & England maintained its performance by scoring 129/6 in 20 overs because of the likings of Pietersen who scored 62, Kieswetter who scored 17 & Patel who scored 16.

Pakistani bowlers bowled good specially Saeed Ajaml who took 4 wickets for 23 runs. Aizaz Cheema took 1 wicket for 25. Umar Gul proved to be expensive as he gave 39 runs off 4 overs.

Pakistan in chase once again lost Mohammad Hafeez in the start. Awais Zia played a steady innings of 23 runs from 28 balls. Asad Shafiq scored 34 off 32 balls but got run-out.

Umar Akmal added 22 off 23. Shahid Afridi’s stay at the crease was short as he got run-out at the score of 3. Skipper Misbah-ul-Haq as always played a smooth (must say a slow) innings which in the end cost the series to Pakistan. 23 runs were required off 18 balls. But Misbah-ul-Haq completely failed to struck boundaries.

In the last 2 overs, Pakistan lost 3 wickets, 1st of Umar Akmal who tried to hit hard to Broad & skied one. Then Shahid Afridi who got run-out at the batting end in greed of taking 2 runs. And Misbah-ul-Haq at the last ball when 6 runs were required, it was a slow ball from Dernbach, Misbah-ul-Haq tried to smash it out of the park but found his stumps broken.

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That was the end of the match, T20I series & the tour of England. Pakistan fell 6-run short of the target as they managed to score 124/6 in 20.0 overs. Misbah-ul-Haq scored 28 off 32 balls & Hammad Azam remained not-out at 2.

It is no doubt a great victory for T20I Champions – England who are eyeing on the 2012 ICC World Twenty20 (which will start in Sri Lanka from September 18, 2012).

It is also good for Pakistan as they’ll take positives from it & will try to overcome the negatives, they’ll have to make some quick decisions about the players who aren’t good enough for T20I cricket like Misbah-ul-Haq who is current captain, Mohamamd Hafeez who got out at duck twice in the series, Shoaib Malik who failed to prove his captain right & Umar Gul who was smashed all around the ground.

The next assignment for Pakistan is Asia Cup which will start from March 11, 2012 & will end on March 22, 2012 in Bangladesh. England will be looking ahead to get ready for the tour of Sri Lanka, their 1st test will start from March 26, 2012 (after the Asia Cup).

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Result: England won by 5 runs.

Man Of The Match: Kevin Pietersen (England).

Winner Of The Series: England by 2-1.

Man Of The Series: Kevin Pietersen (England).

Dubai: England defeated Pakistan by 38 runs. Jonny Bairstow played a major role by scoring 60 off 46 balls, he hit 5 FOURS & 2 SIXES.

Jonny Bairstow hit his first international fifty © Getty Images

Stuart Broad – captain of England won the toss & decided to bat first. His team set a score of 150 in the play of 20 overs & lost its 9 wickets.

There was a good innings by 22 years old Jonny Bairstow who scored 60 vital runs, Kieswetter was the other one who scored 31 runs off 24 balls (2 FOURS & 1 SIX).

Pietersen’s stay was short as he was uprooted by Saeed Ajmal at 17. Patel scored 13 before getting run-out at a direct hit of Saeed Ajmal. Only 4 England batsmen entered into double-figures.

Pakistan bowlers were good, Umar Gul was again impressive with the ball as he took 2 wickets for 31 runs in his 4 overs. Mohammad Hafeez, Aizaz Cheema, Saeed Ajmal & Shahid Afridi shared 1 wicket each. Fielding of Pakistan was also spot- on.

For chasing the target, Pakistan lost its first 2 wickets in first 2 overs. Mohammad Hafeez got out at duck & Asad Shafiq got out at 6.

Umar Akmal was the 3rd one to got as he scored 19 off 12 balls. Awais Zia who was impressive in the last game here was done by the slow balls of England fast bowlers, he hit only 1 SIX in his innings of 12 balls. Shoaib Malik & Misbah-ul-Haq tried to lift the innings but the wickets kept falling. Malik after adding 12 played a foolish stroke & got out.

The score of Pakistan 50/5 in 8.4 overs. Shahid Afridi arrived at the crease & tried to take Pakistan out of this trouble. Skipper Misbah-ul-Haq was blocking the balls & hence the required run-rate kept increasing.

In the 13th over, Misbah-ul-Haq used his feet & tried to hit the ball out of the park but caught out by Bairstow. Hammad Azam was the next batsmen, he was playing for the 1st time against England. Nerves, pressure every thing was intimidating him.

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Hammad started hitting in the over of Bopara when he hit a FOUR & a SIX. He in the next over also took Broad on by hitting 2 FOURS. He was looking absolutely like a copy of Abdul Razzaq.

Still 54 runs were required off 30 balls. England broke the partnership between Hammad & Afridi when Buttler took a good catch at long-off to remove Hammad (21 runs, 15 balls faced, 3 FOURS & 1 SIX).

Umar Gul in the next over went aerial & hit a FOUR & then SIX to Steven Finn which brought life back in the crowd. At the very next ball, Gul (10) caught out at the short ball, he tried to hit it over short fine leg but got a top edge which straight up in the air & wicket-keeper Kieswetter easily caught it.

Ajmal was the next one to go as he got run-out without playing any ball, he in the end collided with Finn who pushed him down the ground. It was a gusty moment but Finn handed the bat back to Ajmal who lost it.

Dernbach bowled a super over in which he gave only 1 run. In the 2nd last over, when 39 runs were required off 12 balls, Afridi (25 runs, 23 balls, 2 FOURS & 1 SIX) tried to hit Broad’s good-length delivery over the leg side but it went high up in the air & in the end Morgan took a good catch to end the innings of Afridi & Pakistan.

Pakistan got out at the score of 112 in 18.2 overs. Steven Finn took 3 wickets for 30 runs, Broad & Swann took 2, 2 wickets & Dernbach, Bopara shared 1 wicket each.

The 3rd & final T20I will be played at Abu Dhabi on February 27, 2012, the match will start at 20:00 (local), 16:00 (GMT), 19:00 (AST).

HQ Photo Gallery: Click here to see the photos.

Result: England won by 38 runs.

Man Of The Match: Jonny Bairstow (England).

Dubai: PCB & ECB announced their squads for the limited-overs leg of the ongoing clash in UAE. Ian Bell & Sarfraz Ahmed have been dropped – Buttler, Briggs, Awais & Hammad are inducted.

Pakistan v England 2012 in UAE

Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) announced 17-man ODI squad & 16-man T20I squad whereas England & Wales Cricket Board (ECB) announced 16-man ODI squad & 15-man T20I squad on Tuesday.

Misbah-ul-Haq will lead Pakistan in both formats. Alastair Cook will lead England in ODI’s & Stuart Broad will lead in T20I’s.

The man in good nick – Shahid Afridi has been called for the ODI’s & T20I’s. Shoaib Malik who hasn’t performed well since his return to the squad received a special call on the request of Pakistani skipper Misbah-ul-Haq. He wasn’t considered for Test squad because of his miserable run (he scored only 57 runs in 10 innings & took 7 wickets since his return), he was also overlooked for the ODI’s & T20I’s but credit goes to Misbah-ul-Haq for his return.

Hammad Azam is another one who will make his comeback, he made his debut against West Indies but then was dropped after the tour of Ireland because of not showing satisfactory performance. The highest run scorer of the 2012 magical test series between Pakistan & England, Azhar Ali is also a part of ODI squad.

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25-year old Awais Zia from Rawalpindi will make his debut as an opener in T20I’s for Pakistan. He was the leading run-getter for Rawalpindi Rams and the fourth-highest run-getter in the domestic Twenty20 with 177 runs from five games.

Wicketkeeper Sarfraz Ahmed has been dropped as Adnan Akmal will make a comeback to the ODI squad & will debut in T20I’s. Abdul Razzaq is the other one who is still searching a way to get back in the squad, PCB said that his shoulder isn’t 100% fit for international assignments.

On the other hand, Ian Bell who was completely out of color in the test series against Pakistan failed to make his place in the limited-overs leg. Two youngsters won the hearts of selectors with their performances in the domestic cricket. Somerset’s wicketkeeper Jos Buttler & Hampshire’s slow left arm orthodox Danny Briggs will debut in ODI’s. Buttler has played in 4 T20I’s for England last year. Both players have spent the winter with the England Performance Programme in India and with England Lions in Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.

Tim Bresnan’s inclusion in both squads is subject to a fitness assessment during the preparation period as he continues his recovery following an elbow operation.

ODI Squad of Pakistan:

Misbah-ul-Haq (capt), Younis Khan, Shahid Afridi, Mohammad Hafeez, Imran Farhat, Umar Akmal, Asad Shafiq, Adnan Akmal (wk), Junaid Khan, Umar Gul, Aizaz Cheema, Saeed Ajmal, Abdur Rehman, Wahab Riaz, Hammad Azam, Azhar Ali, Shoaib Malik.

T20I Squad of Pakistan:

Misbah-ul-Haq (capt), Shahid Afridi, Mohammad Hafeez, Imran Farhat, Umar Akmal, Asad Shafiq, Adnan Akmal (wk), Junaid Khan, Umar Gul, Aizaz Cheema, Saeed Ajmal, Abdur Rehman, Wahab Riaz, Hammad Azam, Awais Zia, Shoaib Malik.

ODI Squad of England:

Alastair Cook (capt), James Anderson, Jonny Bairstow (wk), Ravi Bopara, Tim Bresnan (subject to fitness), Danny Briggs, Stuart Broad, Jos Buttler (wk), Jade Dernbach, Steven Finn, Craig Kieswetter (wk), Eoin Morgan, Samit Patel, Kevin Pietersen, Graeme Swann, Jonathan Trott.

T20I Squad of England:

Stuart Broad (capt), James Anderson, Jonny Bairstow (wk), Ravi Bopara, Tim Bresnan, Danny Briggs, Jos Buttler (wk), Jade Dernbach, Steven Finn, Alex Hales, Craig Kieswetter (wk), Eoin Morgan, Samit Patel, Kevin Pietersen, Graeme Swann.